January and February 2016 were the two warmest months on record in the Arctic with temperatures averaging 5.80°C above normal for January and 4.56°C above normal for February. February also saw the lowest sea ice cover for the month of February since satellite records began in 1979. Warmer than normal temperatures persisted into April.

In a presentation given on Thursday 21 July, which is now avaialble for online viewing on YouTube. Dr. James Overland and his colleague Muyin Wang from NOAA explained the reasons behind this particularly warm boreal winter in the Arctic, which they attributed primarily to transport of heat from the mid-latitudes (advection) to the Arctic.